London Mayor Sadiq Khan has performed a U-turn on his campaign promise to end “stop and search”, stating his Metropolitan Police will “significantly increase” their use of the powers in an attempt to crackdown on the city’s surging knife crime problem.

Before being elected in 2015, Mr. Khan promised to “do everything in my power to cut stop and search” if he became Mayor.

The change of tone comes just over a week after data revealed surging levels of violent crime in London last year – homicides were up 27.1 per cent, with youth homicides up 70 per cent, and serious youth violence up 19 per cent.

Part of the problem stems back to 2014, when Theresa May as Home Secretary promised to slash the use of stop and search, claiming the practice undermined relations with minority communities.

Writing in the Evening Standard this Thursday, Mr. Khan acknowledged the “worrying trend of rising violent crime across Britain”, adding: